Clutch finish for Boisvert, Palatine

When the game was on the line, Palatine softball coach Jeff Manz was glad to have Dani Boisvert on the mound.

And Boisvert was glad to have catcher Joanna Jablonski behind the plate, along with her other seven defenders.

After giving up a leadoff double to St. Viator senior slugger Julie Sweeney in the bottom of the seventh, Boisvert retired the next three batters to help the Pirates hang on for a 6-5 nonconference victory in Palatine.

Pirates second baseman Katie Scovic made a great backhand stab of Kristen Cozzi’s sharp grounder and threw to sophomore first baseman Lauren Logan for the first out.

Jablonski made a superb play jumping two feet in front of the plate to pick up a dribbler and then rifling a strike to Logan for the second out.

Boisvert then took matters into her own hands, striking out the final batter for her second win without a loss.

“I have confidence in my defense,” said the southpaw Boisvert. “I need to work on my endurance but my defense and offense came through.

“And I have to mention my catcher. Joanne, who is playing out of position (as regular catcher Alyx Ballenger is recovering from a shoulder injury). She just caught a great game.”

Boisvert finished with 5 strikeouts as the Lions had 14 hits.

“Dani struggled but showed a lot of character in the last few innings,” Manz said. “She finished strong. That’s what we need from her.”

The Lions got a lot of hitting from their pitcher, senior Julie Sweeney, who went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and a solo home run over the right-center field fence in the third inning.

“We’re a relatively new varsity team,” said Sweeney, who struck out 4. “We are definitely going to look for improvement as the season goes on and we’ll pull it together.”

Sweeney’s blast gave Viator a 3-0 lead.

But the Pirates answered in the top of the fourth with 5 runs, taking advantage of 2 hits and 5 errors.

Katie Mnichowicz and Jablonski had RBI singles in the inning. They also crossed the plate along with Tori Walzak (who made a nice play at third base), Sam Salomone, Megan Hedstrom and Boisvert.

The Lions tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on RBI singles by Alex Flasch (2-for-4, double) and Tess Kaiser (2-for-3, double).

Palatine (2-1) went ahead 6-5 in the top of the fifth when Mnichowicz raced home from third base on a throwing error.

“Julie’s hitting was fantastic,” said Lions coach Dan Twarog. “She’s great.

“We just let up those 5 runs in the one inning. We just pressed too hard, missing too many plays that we will make as the season goes on.

“This was our first game. We’ll get better defensively.”

Offensively, the Lions were led by Sweeney and catcher Tayler Lenart (3-for-4), who was robbed of a perfect day when Scovic made a diving catch to her right on a liner in the first inning.

Shortstop Mnichowicz (3-for-5), who also made a nifty backhand play to retire a batter in the second inning, led the Pirates’ offense.

“I thought we started out tentative at the plate,” Manz said. “Once we started getting aggressive, we forced them to make plays and we stared scoring some runs.”

Fremd 10, Grayslake Central 1 (6 inn.): Every Viking had at least 1 hit as visiting Fremd (2-0) won behind junior pitcher Rachel Doering (2-0), who struck out 10 and walked three in six innings before the game was called due to darkness.

Senior Allie Gaeding (2-for-4, 2 runs) and junior Brittany Ciura (2-for-3, 2 RBI) were multiple hitters for the Vikes, who received a 2-run double from junior Megan Hubbard that nearly went over the fence in left-center.

Sophomore Michelle Mazur belted a homer and senior Megan Horn had a double for Fremd.

Rolling Meadows 19, Highland Park 4 (5 inn.): Junior Josie Suchecki (2-for-3, 6 RBI, double) belted a grand slam in the second inning and classmate Natalie Cannizzo went 4-for-5 for the Mustangs in their season opener in Highland Park.

Sophomore Sara Brunlieb struck out four in the final three innings to notch the win.

Sam Anderson (2-for-5, 3 RBI), Brunlieb (2-for-2, 3 RBI, double) and Emily Skorin (double) were other top hitters for Meadows.

Elgin 10, Hoffman Estates 0 (5 innings): Junior Linden Fick (2-for-2, 2 doubles), freshman Sam Acosta (1-for-3) and senior Kelsey Pellus (1-for-1, walk) had the hits for Hoffman in its season opener against the visiting Maroons.